Like their no-maj counterparts, European witches and wizards came to America in greater numbers in the 1600s. Although many fled persecution, due to the lack of wizard shops and specialists such as pharmacists, many found an environment more difficult to manage. They also dealt with the bad relations between the local magical communities and the newly arrived No-Majes and Scourers, a ruthless gang of spell mercenaries ready to give up any witch or wizard who might be worth money. [4] It may seem that the misplaced trust of a young witch drove all witches and wizards underground, but Rowling notes that Rappaport`s Law came after MACUSA “was already dealing with an unusually suspicious population of No-Maj.” (In a way, this growing fear and segregation reflects the magical community towards the end of the 18th century. The U.S. government introduced similar laws in the nineteenth century. In real life, the United States was tempted to strengthen national security by signing the Aliens and Sedition Acts in 1798, which made it difficult for immigrants to obtain citizens.) In other words, thanks to irritations, lingering suspicions, and a particularly devastating and humiliating breach of secrecy, the New World has become an even more mysterious – and dangerous – place for the magical community than ever before. Dorcus was completely unaware of the danger and took Bartholomew`s polite interest in his “little tricks” at face value. Guided by the unfettered questions of her beau, she entrusted the secret addresses of MACUSA and Ilvermorny, as well as information about the International Confederation of Sorcerers and all the ways these bodies have tried to protect and hide the wizarding community. The long-term consequence of Rappaport`s Law has been to push the American wizarding community even deeper underground and widen the cultural gap between the wizarding communities of the United States and Europe. In Europe, wizarding governments secretly cooperated and communicated with their Muggle colleagues, and witches and wizards could marry and befriend Muggles.
I found it interesting that the story goes directly beyond the involvement (or lack thereof) of the American wizarding community in the Civil War. Obviously, the international wizarding community didn`t have a horse in this race — unless they were just interested in watching America potentially tear itself apart — but I wonder if the wizards` and witches` houses were divided when it came to taking sides. And what did colored wizards think of slavery and in particular of the racial segregation laws introduced under the no-majes after the Civil War and the abolition of slavery? If America`s wizard government seems tough, it`s because it is. American wizards live under very strict and hidden conditions, with government posts responsible for No-Maj fraternization (which is illegal) and an office that issues magic wand permits to strictly prosecute all magical individuals currently active in the United States. In reality, skinwalkers are only one part of Navajo tradition, not one of hundreds of other tribes. Rowling summed up a complex tapestry of beliefs into a single story, using “medicine man” stereotypes by writing things like “The Native American wizarding community was particularly good at animal and plant magic.” A guiding principle in modern wizard culture, but especially in North America, was the International Statute of the Magical Secret – wizards decided that the best way to ensure their safety and live a freer and happier life was to go completely underground with an autonomous political and economic system. No wonder American wizards were particularly enthusiastic about this idea after the Salem witch trials of 1692-3. MACUSA (pronounced mah-cooz-ah) was founded in 1693 with two main goals: (1) to get rid of shyness, corrupt sorcerers who hunted their own species; and (2) protection from magicians who had fled Europe to America. The Rappaport Law was an American law of witchcraft enacted by President Emily Rappaport in 1790 in response to the consequences of Dorcus Twelvetree`s violation of the International Statute of Secrecy.
[1] It was finally repealed in 1965. [2] The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) was founded in 1693 after the Salem witch trials and is the governing body of the witch population of the United States of America. MACUSA was first founded in North America, a magical world within a non-magical world as seen in other countries. One of the first things to be set up was an aurora office whose first job was to hunt down scoundrels who had betrayed their own species. [4] A small escape in the descendant of a scrub was almost catastrophic for the American wizarding world. “It`s very flattering that she wants to expand her world to the Native American world, but it doesn`t fit very well because it`s a good fit,” Walter Fleming, head of the Native American studies department at Montana State University, told the Christian Science Monitor. “What happens is that you take a supposed fictional community — the wizarding world — and try to apply it to a culture where it`s not a supposed fictional world.
